subject: Designing A Colorful Spring Garden [print this page] Colorful flowers, whether bulbs, shrubs or perennials, are always a welcome sight. Incorporating these early bloomers is a great way to brighten up the landscape after a long barren winter.
Spring bulbs are perhaps the classic type of flower in the early spring garden as they offer some of the earliest blooms of all garden flowers. Some bulbs will even last until the early perennials begin to bloom in May and June. Spring bulbs, such as tulips, daffodils, blue bells and crocuses, are planted in the fall and bloom very early in the season. Bulbs are a very versatile flower as they're suitable for the perennial garden, the shrub bed or even for planting in the lawn. They're most effective when planted in masses so plant quite a few in each area.
In the middle of spring and during the early summer there are more shrubs and trees in bloom than at any other time of the year. Early blooming shrubs, such as forsythia and witch-hazel, bloom long before most perennial flowers even emerge from the soil.
Early blooming perennials, such as bleeding heart, are perfect for the shade garden as they're able to take advantage of the sun before deciduous trees develop their foliage. Woodland gardens are often the most colorful landscapes in the spring since many shade tolerant perennial flowers, such as the bleeding heart and lily of the valley, are in bloom.
Iris is a great early blooming perennial and is available in a wide variety of colors and sizes. Bleeding heart and columbine are shade tolerant, short lived yet beautiful early blooming perennials. Other early bloomers include poppy and lupine.
Even with all the trees, shrubs and perennial flowers in bloom, green is still dominants the spring landscape so it is important to include in your garden plan plants with various shades of green foliage. Hosta grows in many shades of green including blue-green and gold-green and gray-green. Hosta forms the perfect backdrop for spring flowers and provides lush foliage all season long. Evergreens, such as yew, boxwood, rhododendron and azalea, provide the garden with beautiful shades of green year-round.
Planning and designing your garden prior to planting is important. It gives you a helpful guide while you plant. Though early flowers are welcoming sure signs of spring, be sure to incorporate all kind of flowers in the garden so there's continuous bloom from spring to fall.
